Additional details of the Plaxico Burress incident came to light at the New York Giants wide receiver’s arraignment yesterday afternoon. For earlier GP coverage, see this and this.

In the New York Times:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the Police Department criticized the Giants, who they said neglected to notify the authorities of the shooting, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where Burress was treated, for failing to call the police about his gun-related injury, as state law requires.

The NFL says that it did, in fact, contact the police. Burress is out on $100,000 bail.

Here’s the story of what went down:

Burress arrived at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Manhattan at 1:20 a.m. Saturday morning, with four others, including two teammates.

The criminal complaint, released by prosecutors Monday, said that an onlooker then saw Burress near the V.I.P. area of the club holding a drink in his left hand and fidgeting his right hand in the area of the waistline of his pants. The witness then heard a single “pop” sound before hearing Burress say, “Take me to the hospital.”

Burress was on the ground, with his legs shaking, when a bloody gun — a .40-caliber Glock pistol — fell out of his pant leg and onto the floor, the onlooker said. Investigators believe that Pierce was standing next to Burress when the gun went off. The bullet, which broke through the skin of Burress’s right thigh and pierced muscle tissue, traveled through the leg before lodging itself somewhere in the club.

The handgun was later found, minus magazine and with an empty chamber, in teammate Antonio Pierce’s vehicle.

I think it’s safe to say that no one was following any safety rules. Or common sense. Or the law, for that matter.

Expect the Brady Bunch to jump on this and claim that Burress represents one of the “law abiding gun owners” and, as one, is an example of why gun ownership should be outlawed. Never mind that Burress was in possession of an illegal gun without a permit to carry any concealed weapon in a state that didn’t honor the permit he previously had in an establishment that serves alcohol and was drinking.

Tampa, Florida:

Police say 42-year-old Jerome Haggins, armed with a pistol, entered a Tampa home Saturday night, ordered six men to the ground and demanded they give up their wallets and jewelry. He then forced them to take off their clothes and noticed that one of the men had not given up his bracelet.

Police say Haggins put his pistol on a table, walked over to the man and snatched the bracelet. But while Haggins was taking the bracelet, police say another victim grabbed the gun and pointed it at Haggins. The would-be victims held Haggins until police arrived.

Oops. (via Wizbang)

Plaxico Burress & Antonio Pierce partying after their Super Bowl win in February

He surrendered to New York City police this morning, and more details about this incident are emerging:

[His lawyer, Benjamin] Brafman said Burress held a gun permit in Florida. Online records show that the permit expired May 21. Even if it were renewed, it would not matter. According to New York law, one must hold a New York gun permit to carry a concealed weapon in the state. Burress does not.

Burress also did not have a permit to carry a firearm in New Jersey, his state of residence, according to Chief Robert Coyle of the Totowa Police Department. He added that a Florida permit was not recognized in New Jersey. “He wouldn’t be able to carry here at all,” he said.

Linebacker Antonio Pierce is directly involved as he appears to have carried Burress’ gun into New Jersey.

The story includes some comments by Giants co-owner and president John Mara:

To prevent situations like Burress’s, the league and its teams meet with players every year to try to educate them about gun possession and the complications of it, Mara said.

“Players, for whatever reason, feel the need to carry guns,” Mara said before the game. “It’s not something that we’re particularly pleased about, but that is the choice that they make. You’d like to think that most of them are licensed to do that, but I’m not sure that is always the case.”

Just a week ago I pointed out a post at Rustmeister’s Alehouse discussing security issues surrounding NFL players.

Uncle points out that Mike Ditka says the NFL should prohibit players from owning guns.

What’s a bigger problem in the NFL? Gun incidents or motor vehicle incidents? I’d be there are a thousand speeding/DUI/accident stories involving NFL players for every gun-related story.

I missed the part where Ditka said the NFL should prohibit players from owning cars.

And, yes, I’m aware that there’s a difference between owning guns and owning cars.

The difference is that one of them is a God-given right that is guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

UPDATE: Link to the NYT story corrected to point to the same story it pointed to when I wrote this. More details about exactly what happened: Burress Arraigned; More Details

Gaston, North Carolina:

A would-be burglar who’d been scared off from one house by a 70-year-old woman found himself a few minutes later staring down the wrong end of a shotgun at another, police say.

And before the sun rose Sunday, Joshuah Scott Rutledge probably figured out that this northern Gaston County town wasn’t ripe for the picking.

“If they think Stanley is sleepy, they’ve got another thing coming,” said 56-year-old Phyllis Osborne, who now calls her 62-year-old husband Richard her “knight in shining armor.”

Rutledge, 26, of Oakboro was reportedly climbing through a bathroom window of a woman’s home on the 3500 block of N.C. 27 in Stanley at 4:30 a.m. Sunday when the woman, who’d had her 70th birthday the week before, spotted him and scared him away before he could get inside.

He then apparently went to a house across the street off N.C. 27 on Watts Street, this time making it inside.

But once inside he found himself staring at Richard Osborne and an old shotgun that his wife’s grandfather had once used to slaughter hogs. Whether the gun would still fire a shot remains in question.

Apparently, the punk didn’t feel lucky.

Something that needs to be constantly hammered when talking about gun control is that, when it comes to self defense, a gun is the only tool available that allows a huge segment of the population to equalize or neutralize the threat of criminals younger and stronger than they are.

And this doesn’t only apply to the very valid “but criminals would still have guns” argument. Even if you could “wave the magic wand” and make all firearms everywhere vanish in a poof, the older and weaker among us would be at the mercy of the young thug. Therefore, even if it were possible to 100% disarm 100% of the criminals, guns would be 100% necessary.

We should be asking “Why do gun control proponents want to make victims of senior citizens?“

Sebastian points us to a story with a happy ending:

Victim shoots man during robbery try
An armed robber who tried to stick up a man Monday night ended up getting shot when the victim pulled out his own gun, police said.

Says a commenter:

What a heartwarming story for the Holiday Season. It is people like this man that was being robbed that show the generosity to share a bullet with a robber that make this country great. God Bless him.

When it comes to gunfire, ’tis far better to give than to receive!

Sebastian also points out that the would-be victim is an open carry activist.

WR Plaxico Burress

Giants WR Burress suffers accidental gunshot wound

New York Giants star wide receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg Friday, according to multiple media reports.

Burress was hospitalized with gunshot injuries Friday night that were not believed to be life-threatening, FOX Sports.com reported Saturday.

A spokesman for the Giants on Saturday told PA SportsTicker that the team had no comment, although they acknowledged they are aware there was an incident.

Details are few. Gun cleaning accident? Hunting accident? Something more serious, possibly not an accident?

The sketchy information makes one wonder, but I’ll buy the accident story unless something more convincing surfaces.

UPDATE: Apparently happened in a nightclub. So was Burress carrying a concealed weapon? With a permit? In an establishment that serves alcohol? Was he drinking?

UPDATE 2: More info here.

Friday Night Video
Glock 17 by The Cartridge Family

So bad it’s good. Barely.

(via Page Nine)

Charter Arms announces the Charter Arms Rimless Revolver (CARR) a revolutionary new rimless revolver for popular semi-auto cartridges.

From the press release:

Available Calibers: Charter Arms will first offer the .40 S&W chambering, followed quickly by the .45ACP and 9×19 mm Parabellum (the 9mm Parabellum revolver will also chamber factory .380ACP). All three of Charter Arms’ Rimless Revolvers (9mm, .40 and .45) are rated for higher velocity +P loadings.

The advantage is now the average gun owner can own an affordable, trouble-free revolver chambered in these popular semi-auto rounds without the need for specialized ammunition clips and a specialized gun.

Back up and self-defense: For law enforcement work the always ready-to-fire, fiddle-factor-free revolver is the back up to have; especially if is the same caliber as the officer’s carry gun. As a primary self-defense carry gun, these three calibers mean reliable protection in popular semi-auto self defense-calibers.

If more power is needed, step up to +P ammo. The advantage with Charter Arms Rimless Revolvers is they will fire any mix of cartridges while maintaining 100% reliability. For plinking with .45ACP or 9mm surplus and discounted military type ammo, the affordable Charter Arms Rimless Revolver will prove to be very economical and it’s also a .380 revolver. Now that is fun!

The secret is the patent-pending Charter Arms Rimless Revolver Round System. Basically, when a round is loaded into the chamber a specialized spring engages the cartridge’s ejector groove. When the cylinder is opened and the ejector rod operated, it extracts and ejects the fired cases.

Models: Initially snubbarrels (2″ 9mm and 2.2″ .40 and .45ACP) as these revolvers are designed for self- defense and back up. The 9mm is built on Charter Arms’ compact and lightweight undercover platform featuring an aluminum frame and weighing only 12 ounces. The .40 and .45ACP built on the popular and robust Bulldog frame due to the larger diameter of these cartridges while maintaining a compact profile.

Availability: First quarter of 2009.

MSRP Prices: 9mm $399.00, .40 $449.00, .45ACP $449.00

That .40 looks pretty good to me. Particularly for carry. I expect that these will sell well to a wide range of shooters.

Alphecca notes that the concealed carry permit renewal rate in Minnesota, with the first batch of permit holders coming due, is only about 50%.

That seems odd.

Rustmeister points out a very interesting series of stories about personal security for NFL players, including gun ownership.